Matt Taibbi

having a market structure dominated by a small number of large companies

Oligopolistic media consolidation produces a uniformity of perspective that competitive rhetoric about press freedom conveniently obscures.

a system of government where the rich hold power

Plutocratic capture of regulatory institutions transforms government from democratic instrument into sophisticated management tool for concentrated wealth.

adj. pertaining to the legal activities and duties of bringing criminal charges against someone

His prosecutorial style assembles documentary evidence with the methodical patience of someone building a case rather than merely scoring points.

a person or system that supports the organization of society into interest groups

Corporatist arrangements between financial institutions and their nominal regulators produce accountability theatre rather than genuine oversight.

n. the exposure of scandal especially about public figures; v. explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures

Muckraking journalism at its finest names specific actors and specific decisions rather than retreating into comfortable systemic abstraction.

the process of increasing the importance of financial motives and markets in the economy

Financialization of the economy extracts value from productive activity without creating any, concentrating the proceeds among an increasingly narrow stratum.

adj. composed of representing or supported by two parties or factions esp. two political parties; having two of somethingfrom Latin root bi mean TWO

Bipartisan consensus on matters of financial deregulation reveals where the performance of political opposition ends and shared class interest begins.

adj. pertains to regulations; branch of science that deals with technical studies through qualitative approach

Regulatory capture is not corruption in the crude sense — it is the subtler process by which oversight agencies absorb the worldview of the overseen.

a person who uses exaggerated claims to attract interest

Sensationalist framing that personalizes systemic failure conveniently distracts from the institutional architecture that made individual misconduct possible.

n. deliberately false information leaked by a government; as to confuse another nation's intelligence operations

Disinformation campaigns succeed most reliably when they exploit pre-existing institutional distrust rather than manufacturing it from nothing.

related to the profession of writing news and reporting events

Journalistic independence cannot survive financial dependence on the very institutions whose conduct most urgently requires scrutiny and accountability.

n. 1 an advocate of democratic principles; 2 a member of the People's party

Populist anger, however raw its expression, frequently identifies real concentrations of unaccountable power that sophisticated commentary prefers to aestheticize.

a term used to describe actions or ideas that unfairly accuse people of being disloyal or untrustworthy based on their associations

McCarthyite guilt-by-association techniques have migrated across the political spectrum with depressing ease and remarkable historical amnesia.

n. Characteristic of or appropriate to an institution

Institutional self-protection consistently overrides the stated commitments of organizations whose founding purpose was transparency and public accountability.

adj. related to the removal or reduction of government rules and restrictions.

Deregulatory ideology provided intellectual cover for decisions whose primary beneficiaries were never the markets but the largest participants within them.